


Walk It Off

by Holladay Street (street)



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Injury Recovery, Slow Burn, US Women's Soccer National Team, USWNT
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-02-08 15:42:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18626254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/street/pseuds/Holladay%20Street
Summary: Emily isn't about to miss one of her first national team camps because of a silly injury. She just won't mention it. Everything will definitely be fine.





	1. Three Points

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings for character injury, vague or inaccurate descriptions of medical issues, fast and loose treatment of soccer rules and national team membership timelines in favor of storytelling.
> 
> Eventual Sohara plotline, with a slow-burn start.

Emily's face slammed into the turf and sound stopped as the pain seared across her back. She felt every stud of the midfielder's cleat grind into her - heel spikes right above her ass and toe rotating in the soft muscle just below her ribs. Once the pressure was gone she gasped air back into her lungs, uncertain if she could move at all besides gripping her fingers at the prickly turf to brace against the pain.

As sounds filtered back she realized the game was still going full speed around her. No whistle, no foul, no card. She heard a sharp yell from Sinc and a crescendo of chanting from the Riveters. They were still within reach of a game-winning goal.

A fouled defender causing a timeout wouldn't help the team right now. They were so close - minutes to go, three points in the balance, and playoffs in their sights. She should not, must not, be the rookie who held the team back from this win by staying down.

She tried to draw both legs up under her. The right one glitched as pain burst hot across her hip, but her left foot found the ground and she pushed up to standing.

The ball was loose inside the 18. The opposing team's keeper had repelled it twice, but as Emily blinked her eyes into focus she saw Mana Shim take possession and control the ball at her feet, waiting for the right moment. They still had a chance at this. Emily jogged some quick steps in place, jolts of pain flashing from hip up her back. She headed towards the near post, just in time to track track the ball as Mana sent it behind the opposing defender and Lindsay Horan ran onto it and slotted it smoothly into goal.

Their celebratory yells were drowned out by a wall of sound from the crowd. Lindsay tore past her, and Mana jumped into Lindsay's back as Emily turned to follow. The others piled in around them, and Emily gingerly wrapped her arms around the outside of the group hug. She loved this part. The sweaty hugs, the unconditional support amongst the team, the acrid smell of red smoke from the North End, and the roar of a full stadium. _This was why she had wanted to play pro_ , she reminded herself as her vision fuzzed and a wave of vertigo hit her. She leaned her forehead against a team mate and focused on the texture of their kit shirt, the muscles underneath, and the sound of the crowd. _You managed no_ _t to fuck it up, Rookie_ , she told herself. _Just walk it off and focus on the game._ They had their win. A bit of pain was nothing in the big picture. Not when she had this.


	2. Post-game

Stoppage time was a blur. Emily marked the opposing players as the Thorns played keep-away. She felt half elated at the win, and half like she was drowning - her back had turned into some sort of quicksand pit of pain and it kept pulling her in and down, trapping her with a sharp throb every time she took a step. When the final whistle blew she made a beeline for the side.

"Sonny, you doing ok? That looked like a nasty hit." Emily Menges jogged up beside her, dropping to a walk to match Emily's pace.  
"Yeah, it sucked. Don't worry though, I'm made of rubber - I bounce right back!" Emily replied. She hated having other people up in her business when she was injured. She was a fast healer, and it was always easiest to just take care of herself. Especially now. In her first year with the Thorns and thirsty to earn her third national team cap the next week, this was nothing to miss time on the pitch over.  
"You've got some . . . " Menges gestured to her eye. Emily wiped at it with her arm, and came away with bits of artificial turf and a small smear of blood.  
"Ugh, thanks. Is there more? I didn't realize I'd landed that hard."  
Menges shook her head. "It looks like you just grazed your eyebrow a little bit. You got most of it."

Sinc checked on her as soon as the Emilys joined the rest of the team, and handed her a gatorade bottle. Emily drank gratefully, glad to rinse the acidic taste of pain out of her mouth. She searched the opposing team's faces as she shook their hands, trying to remember who had fouled her. She remembered stripping the ball off their wing back and sending it toward Kling, but everything after that was a blank until she hit the turf. Nobody's expressions betrayed anything; she let her curiosity slip away.

Fatigue hits her as the team starts their loop of the field. The distances suddenly feel enormous. She finds Lindsay and loops her left arm over Linsday's shoulders, subtly leaning on her to ease the grindthrobflash of pain that is still starting in her hip and slicing up her back with every step. Lindsay grins at her and wraps an arm around her waist, high on the win and her brace of goals and oblivious to most everything else. Half way down the long edge of the field Lindsay pulls her closer and starts skipping, eager to get to the crowd of supporters at the far end. The jolting sends a wave of pain radiating out from Emily's waist, and she feels her right knee buckle a little. She disentangles from Lindsay muttering "doofus, go love on your fans" and managing to give her a half-hearted butt slap. Lindsay shoots a grin over her shoulder and skips away. Emily breathes through her nose and focuses on keeping her strides even, aware of the group of coaching staff walking behind the players. The last thing she needs is to get held back in a treatment room after the game - tomorrow she flies out to national team camp, and all she wants to do is pack and get off her feet.

The fans are dancing and cheering. Emily slips to the end of the line of players, grabbing on with her left hand and protecting her right side as the team bows and waves. She loves this moment, every game. But today the quicksand pit is sucking her in and she's glad to stand at the edge, watching her team mates grin and banter and dance, collecting roses and scarves and flower wreaths

Finally, the team brakes ranks to cool down and give press interviews. Emily grabs a gatorade bottle and slips through the tunnel of sun-warmed cinder block to the dim cool relief of the team dressing room. She eases down onto a bench and straightens her right leg in front of her, pointing her toes up to get a calf stretch. Something sharp twangs in her hip as she flexes her foot, and her low back settles into a steady hot throb as soon as she sits. She takes a moment to just breath, taking stock.  
  
_What happened out there, Rookie?_ she asked herself.  _How'd you let them take you down like that?_ She feels shaken - not just from her pain levels, but from the whole episode. She'd had her share of fouls, and she was certainly used to collecting cleat bruises; she was proud of the fearlessness and physicality she brought to the field. But today felt like something out of the regular course of play. She'd never taken a hit that left her shaken like that, before. Or one that she couldn't remember. She took another long drink and rubbed at her eyebrow - of course that had started throbbing now too, now that she was calm enough to pay attention.  _Brush it off, Em_ _._ She thought.  _They may have got one up on you today, but you didn't let it interfere with the game. With a rest day tomorrow it'll be like nothing happened._

Emily packed her duffle, changed into street shoes, and eased on a big flannel over her sweaty kit. She and Kling and Lindsay had permission to pass on post-game meeting and press today since they were flying to Denver early the next day for national team camp. Grateful for the respite, Emily slipped out of Providence Park and headed home. _  
_


	3. Travel day

Emily groaned awake, way too early, as her phone started blasting Katy Perry. Someone had set it to _I Kissed A Girl_ after a particularly detailed game of Never Have I Ever at the last national camp, and Emily was determined not to change it back until she'd figured out who'd done it and pranked them in return.

She was sweaty, and resting on her back - her least favorite way to sleep. Last night she'd gone to bed with ice packs, but her back had gotten so tense with the cold it had just made everything worse somehow. Sometime after midnight she'd dug out a heating pad instead. Now she realized that she must have fallen asleep with it on - it was still hot against her waist. She felt overheated and sluggish.

She threw off the covers and stretched. Her head ached a little and her legs felt like lead from skipping warm down yesterday.  _Moar ice baths._ She thought.  _Fancy pro-soccer ice baths at altitude. Tanks full of my high school soccer crushes, gorgeous and freezing-cold and snarky tired after practice. What could go wrong?_ She tried stretching her back. Not much mobility and still that deep zing of pain, but nowhere near as bad as yesterday.  _Sooo not so bendy right now - you can work with that._

She eased to standing, dropped the heating pad into her travel duffle (her new sleep friend was _definitely_ coming with), and wandered to the mirror. She'd have some explaining to do - the small split below her eyebrow that Menges had pointed out yesterday had colored up overnight. Her eyelid was puffy and smudged purple. It reminded her of her early teenage attempts at eye makeup. She giggled a little at the thought, prodded it, then let it be. That would heal up with time. She couldn't quite bring herself to look at her back, but walking hurt way less than yesterday. Everything was going to be fine. 

~~~

Waking up to the jolt of landing in Denver, Emily realized that everything was going to be deeply not fine.  
She'd fallen asleep bolt upright in her seat, and now it felt as if she was welded there. Her back throbbed hot and urgent at the divot of her waist, and every muscle up her right side felt seized. She tried to push away from the seat but a jolt of pain flashed through her, making her grab both armrests and grit her teeth. She took some breaths and tried again, glad that Lindsay and Kling were a row ahead. She managed to sit up this time, but the pain moved with her - muscles feeling like they were grinding against each other every time they flexed. As long as she stayed bolt upright it wasn't too bad. 

She disembarked from the plane feeling like one of those old fashioned etiquette classes where girls balanced books on their heads. 

 


	4. Wrongness TBD

Kelley was bouncy with impatience by the time her teammates' flights started arriving. She'd landed in Denver an hour ahead ago, and had already instagramed an airport selfie and picked up their rental van and stashed it in short term parking - more out of boredom than expediency.

When Ashlyn and Ali strolled through the gate she galloped towards them and leapt at Ashlyn, rough-housing her down onto the airport carpet so that the rest of the arriving passengers had to flow around them. Ali laughed and looped back to pick up the pack Ashlyn had dropped in her attempt to manhandle Kelley.

"Let's move along, Kids. There's people trying to leave here." Ali prodded. Kelley untangled from Ashlyn and turn to wrap Ali in a massive hug.

"I missed you Ali. I missed both you guys! It's been so long since I've seen all my teamies!"

"I think the Thorns crew was right behind us" said Ali, once they'd started walking again.

"Oh good!" said Kelley, "that's everyone for now - we can head right to the hotel."

They heard a yell from Klingenberg as they were looking for seats by arrivals, and Kelley zoomed back out. She bear hugged Kling, felt Lindsay crash herself into them, and a moment later another body wrapped softly around the outside of their group hug and a hand landed on her shoulder. She popped hear head up and grinned at Emily. Kelley had been trying not to overthink how much she'd missed the new defender's company and silly antics, but she could feel her smile kick up a notch as Emily stared back at her and quirked up half a smile. She looked paler than Kelley remembered - that Portland rainy season must really be no joke - and she had some nasty looking bruising by her eye. But then she winked and - with exquisite timing - poked a finger into Kelley's ear. Kelley shrieked, and the hug broke apart - the players sorting out their backpacks and heading towards baggage claim.

"That's a wicked shiner. Did you get into a bar fight?" Kelley bounced along beside Emily. Now that they were walking Emily's body language was a bit stand-offish and she seemed distracted. Kelley wasn't quite sure what to make of it. They'd texted last week about prank plans for this camp (there were un-snuffable candles in Kelley's duffle for an upcoming teammate birthday) and Emily had seemed bubbly and excited. Kelley vamped a bit more, hoping to lure Emily back from whatever planet she was on. "Do they even have those kinds of bars in Portland? Or do you have to do all your fighting in craft breweries?" Or do the hipsters have curated artisanal bar fights?"

Emily was at least giggling a little as she replied. "You are so ridiculous. I took a fancy artisanal foul in yesterday's game, is all."

"Ouch! Who fouled you? I didn't see it on the livestream."

Emily shook her head. "I weirdly don't remember."

"When did you get fouled that bad? I didn't see that happen at all" chimed in Lindsay.

"Well you were just a little busy scoring. Sorry Horan, I'll make sure schedule my fouls for more convenient watching next time!"

"Well that's probably where all the cameras were" Kelley replied "makes sense I didn't catch it then."

Ashlyn and Ali split off to a different baggage carousel, and Kelley walked with the Thorns to where luggage from the Portland flight was circling. Lindsay and Kling spotted their duffles near the end of the belt and peeled away. Kelley stuck with Emily as her duffle inched towards them - keen to keep talking now that she had Emily's attention. She was about to remark on the white Adidas ribbon Emily had tied around her bag's handles (who finds Adidas printed satin ribbon?? Really, Sonnett), but stopped short at Emily's sudden gasp-whine as she started to lift her bag. The duffle dropped back onto the belt and Kelley dodged in to grab it. She hefted it easily onto her shoulder and swung back around to Emily. The younger woman's jaw was clenched and her eyes were closed. Kelley could hear her breathing shallowly, a quiet gasp on each inhale. _She looked pale before, but now she's gray_ Kelley thought.  _Something's super wrong here. Wrongness with Emily: TBD._  
  
"Hey there, are you ok?" Kelly asked, touching a caution hand to Emily's elbow.  
  
Emily opened her eyes and took a full breath before turning to Kelley.  
  
"Yeah, totally. Just leftovers from the foul."

"That's shitty. I'm sorry. Do you want me to get you some ice packs when we get to the hotel?"

Emily gave a short laugh. "I don't need you to wait on me."  
  
"Well, it's too late Friendo. Because I'm not giving this back." Kelley slung Emily's duffle across her back offered a grin.

"Thanks. Sorry." Emily looked young and weirdly fragile as she turned to Kelley, her face still ashen, the bruise a stark smudge. Kelley felt something tender but uneasy break in her chest - at their last camp Emily had seemed unassailable and utterly unbreakable. Kelley stroked up and down Emily's arm, trying to send whatever reassurance she could through that connection.

"It's no problem. And don't worry, ok? Everything is gonna be ok."  
  
Kling and Lindsay were winding back to them through the crowd. Kelley caught Emily's eyes cutting to them, and her face tightening with worry.  
  
"Aw c'mere Critter," Kelley said "let's get you to the hotel. I bet everything will feel better once you're settled in." Kelley wrapped a gentle arm around Emily's waist, not sure where she was hurt but wanting to keep their connection. Emily dodged her arm around the duffle strap and slid it up across Kelley's shoulders. Their steps felt a bit jolty at first, but evened out by the time all six players met up.

"Hey Ash, wanna drive?" Kelley dug in her pocket for the van keys as Ashlyn nodded, and tossed them over.  
  
"Aww, look at our Georgia girls back together!" grinned Ali, "you're already plotting, aren't you?"  
  
"Something like that!" Kelley replied.

When they got to the van Kelley stowed Emily's duffle in the back with the others, and then poked Lindsay with sharp fingers muttering something about "Peaches together" until Lindsay relinquished the back bench seat by to Emily and moved up with Kling. Emily gave Kelley a small smile and caught her hand - pulling her over until they were sitting side by side. Emily was still sitting rigidly upright and didn't shift her body towards Kelley's at all, but the whole time their teammates were getting settled and once the van started moving she didn't let go of her hand. Kelley heard her give a sharp gasp as the van jolted over a grate, and again as Ashlyn braked suddenly to merge onto the freeway, glad that at least she could give Emily something to hold onto.


	5. Wrongness Quantified

By the time she set the duffle down on Emily's bed Kelley was almost beside herself.

Tobin and Allie had been waiting sprawled on a couch in the hotel lobby when they arrived. Tobin had ambled over and picked Kelley up into a big hug, lifting her feet off the floor. When Tobin put her down Emily was ready with a high five instead of a hug. A moment later Christen burst through the doors and ran over to bearhug Tobin, and Allie decided to join in the fun - Emily had turned to watch Tobin and Christen when Allie jumped piggy-back onto Emily, clinging on and wrapping her legs around Emily's waist.

Emily's legs buckled. She staggered a few short steps to sprawl sideways on the couch with Allie. Kelley swooped over, her protective streak in overdrive.

"Allie, what are you doing? Don't bruise my fellow Peach!" Kelley demanded, as she set herself on the sofa in front of Emily. She made a dramatic outrage-face at Allie, while pulling Emily close, cradling the younger woman's head against her neck. Allie made a face back, and they mugged at each other for a minute. Kelley's heart wasn't in it though. She felt like she was playing for time - she could feel Emily fisting the fabric of her sweatshirt, and hear her struggling to calm her shallow pained gasps.

"Geez, dramatic much Kelley? Sorry Sonny - I thought you'd be on guard for some hijinks with this crew" Allie apologized.   
  
"You just took my by surprise is all. You might want to rethink your life choices though - do you  _really_ want a defender on your bad side?" Emily sounded normal as she replied, but her grip was still tight on Kelley's shirt.

"Well you peaches can go be bruisy together. I mean, get up to whatever you're gonna get up to with each other. I mean . . . " Tobin floundered for a moment ". . . what I'm trying to say is, you're rooming together. And Dawn left us keys."

Kelley felt relief run through her, crisp and cool. Whatever wrongness was going on with Emily, she would at least be able to stay close and help a little. She thought she felt Emily relax too, her forehead resting against Kelley's collarbone.

"C'mon then, Peachy. Let's leave these hooligans to it!" Kelley said, gently shifting Emily upright before springing up to grab her backpack and both their duffles.  
  
"Hey, my bag" Emily protested, half-heartedly.

"Shush. The least we can do is bring some Georgia chivalry to these fools. Your escort, ma'am!" Kelley gave a mock bow, holding out her arm to where Emily was still on the couch.

Emily's mouth turned up into a tiny smile, and she pulled herself up, slipping a warm hand around Kelley's offered arm. They got a few whistles and teasing yells, but otherwise made it to the elevator in one piece.

 

Kelley sets Emily's duffle on the bed by the window and glances back. Emily is leaning against the bathroom door, staring vacantly. Her shoulders are tense, and she's standing oddly cocked on one hip. Her lips folded back into a tight line somewhere in the long corridor from the elevators.

Finally she seemed to wake up, walking slowly to the bed - her stiff carriage betraying the smallest limp.   
  
"Thanks for carrying my bag and stuff. And for looking out for me." Emily sat slowly and looked up, a little anxious.

"It's no problem, Muffin. I'm just sorry you're so sore." Kelley replied. "What do you need? Can I get you anything? Please let me help you out, ok?  
  
Emily made a frustrated sound and leaned against Kelley's middle. "Well apparently I'm all weird and wrecked right now, so . . . Yeah. That would be really great. Thanks."

Emily scrubbed her face against Kelley's shirt a little, still making tiny grouchy noises while she did.. Kelley reached down to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, then stroked the top of Emily's head - content to wait.  
  
"Could you help me find the heating pad in my bag? And do you have any ibuprofen? I left mine on the plane."

"Oof, rookie move. I'll find mine - just a sec." 

Emily sat still, sagging a little, as Kelley moved around the room to search through their bags. She accepted the pills and water bottle Kelley handed her, swallowing and drinking while she tracked Kelley's movements plugging in the heating pad. Kelley searched through her own bag some more, then came back to sit on Emiliy's bed.

"So what happened?" Kelley asked, cautiously reaching out to rub Emily's shoulder.

"I don't know exactly. I remember getting stepped on, and I after the game I realized later that I'd eaten turf pretty bad, but that's all I've got." Emily shook her head

"But what's hurting?"

"Oh. My back mostly. And my hip a bit - it's still kind of weird to walk on."

"For sure - that sounds rough. Could I take a look?" Kelley paused for a beat, then pressed on. "I mean, I'm not trying to get you naked or anything, but . . . "  
  
"I dunno O'Hara, you sound pretty keen to get my shirt off."

Kelley stopped short, caught between embarrassment and - huh, now that was interesting - a spark of arousal.

Emily quirked a smile and nudged at Kelley's ribs with her elbow.  
  
"Oh geez, relax. It's fine if you want to. Um, I haven't actually looked at it yet . . . " Emily trailed off.

"Well let's do a platonic damage assessment then, shall we?" Kelley smiled back at Emily. "I pulled out some arnica gel if you want - my sister's pretty woo, but she swears by it for bruises."

"Sure, whatever helps." Emily replied. 

They spun so Emily's back was to the sunlight spilling in the window. Kelley moved to lift the back of her sweatshirt and tank top together,, but realized that Emily was struggling to take off her top layer. Kelley skimmed the sweatshirt up Emily's body, avoiding her back, and eased it over Emily's head. Wordlessly she handed the sweatshirt to Emily, who hugged it to her chest - face drawn again from the movement of getting the shirt off. Kelley rubbed Emily's bare shoulder for a minute, feeling Emily lean back into her hands - skin warm and solid with muscle. This was the force of nature she was used to on the pitch - strong and vital.

They sat quiet together for a little while, then Kelley asked "Ready?"  
  
"Sure." Emily said.  
  
Kelley gingerly lifted tank top until she could tuck it into Emily's bra, and then bent see.

"Shiiiit, Critter" was all Kelley said at first.  
  
A vicious set up bruises spanned Emily's back. Each cleat mark was dark blue and purple, with broken capillaries spidering away from the marks. A more diffuse bruise spanned her waist, lighter blue shading to green toward her hip. The whole thing would have been a mess except for the crispness of the footprint stamped across the defender's pale skin.

"Well, we could pull a shoe print for analysis if you want to go all Crime Scene Investigators over who fouled you. Damn - we could probably at least get a brand off this baby, it's so detailed." Kelley said, easing gentle fingers across the skin by Emily's ribs, feeling the pulpy texture and heat of inflammation where each cleat had met her skin.

Emily laughed a little at that.

"Honestly Critter, from how this looks I'm pretty surprised Thorns medical cleared you to come to Denver. That must mean it's all superficial though . . . so I guess that's good?

Emily made a noncommittal noise.

"If it looks that bad do I really wanna see it?" Emily asked, jumping a little as Kelley's fingers landed on the bruising at her waist.

"It looks pretty gnarly. Oh, sorry, it didn't look as bad there." Kelley shifted her hands away as she rattled on. "Well, playing in pain sucks. I'm sorry this'll be your camp to practice doing it. We'll just coddle you as much as we can outside of practice - it can be my project. I love having projects! Did you want some arnica on this?"

"Sure, why not give it a try." Emily shrugged a little, then stayed stock still as Kelley began smoothing the cool gel across Emily's skin.


	6. Kelley as a Perfect Problem

It  _would_ be Kelley Fucking O'Hara.

Gorgeous, irreverent Kelley Goddamn Are You Serious Right Now O'Hara.

 

At Emily's first camp, after Emily had struggled to peel the ball off of Carli's left foot, Kelly Smoking Hot O'Hara had pulled her aside, said "here's how you're gonna lock that shit down" and rested her shoulder and her gorgeous, gorgeous ass against Emily. They'd stepped through every weight shift and foot placement of the move there on the pitch, talked through every variable over dinner, and picked back up in the hotel hallway after - occasional stifled giggles and rough landings onto scratchy gray hotel carpet. The next day Emily executed perfectly and Kelley screamed and tackled her to the turf, sweaty and wriggling. When Emily thinks about it now she remembers the proud satisfaction of running successful interference against Carli Goddamn Rockstar Lloyd, but she also remembers the press of Kelley's hipbone against her belly, Kelley's strong fingers gripped against her side, Kelley's cheek - soft and radiating heat - resting against her neck for the barest moment.  
  
Two weeks later Emily had used the same move at home in Portland. Kelly had posted a snapchat - yelling "This is for my best defense critter, Emily!!!" into a jolting camera before setting her phone down on something and breaking into wild dance moves. Emily had worked out almost a full dance routine to send back, before she realized that the music she's chosen was about hookups and suddenly chickened out.  _There's an away game to pack for,_ she told herself.  _I'm definitely too busy._

At their most recent camp Emily had convinced Kelley to hide in Lindsay's room to prank her. They'd mistimed things and ended up slouched together behind the bed for almost an hour (scratchy hotel carpet again - maroon this time). They had ended up in a long conversation of Harry Potter houses vs. astrology, and at some point Emily made a wildly unsubstantiated claim about palm reading. She'd taken Kelley's hand to prove her point, but then the conversation drifted. For the next quarter of an hour Emily traced abstract patterns over Kelley's palm, and Kelley wrapped her fingers over Emily's and pushed her fingers apart to interlace them, and Emily circled their thumbs together feeling the minute friction of skin on skin. When Lindsay finally opened the door they'd both startled, then slowly pushed their heads above the bed - prank forgotten.

The game of Never Have I Ever was at that camp, too. They had been on opposite sides of the circle, trapped in a staring contest that made the rest of their teammates almost fade away. Emily watched Kelley as they worked around the circle.   
_Never have I ever gotten turned on in the dressing room -_ drink.  
_Never have I ever kissed a girl_ \- drink. __  
_Never have I ever had a crush on a teammate_ \- drink.  
Afterwards Kelley had insisted on escorting Emily back to her room. They took the stairs and Kelley paused at the halfway landing and stepped breathlessly close. With tipsy focus she ran one finger gently along Emily's eyebrow a few times, then said "you are really something, Miss Emily." The door below opened just then and the moment broke. Kelley leapt away yelling "race you!" and they barreled up the stairs together.

 

So _of course_ it was Kelley Freaking Thirst Trap O'Hara who was seeing her fall apart.

Emily'd had a hope that Kelley thought she was a little tough. Or at least sturdy and not too fragile. But when Kelley claimed the back seat of the van the only thing Emily could think of was the comfort of her solid presence. As soon as Kelley's thigh touched hers she felt more grounded - a little calmer and clearer in the mental haze she'd been stuck in since landing. She clung to Kelley's hand, wishing her goddamn back would let her turn and burrow herself into Kelley's lap as the van bumped along the freeway. Kelley just pressed further into her, reaching across to tuck a strand of hair behind Emily's ear and whispering "Almost there, my Critter. Hang tight." And Emily wanted to either bite Kelley's adorable ear lobe or die of embarrassment or maybe both.

Kelley seemed content to stick close by without asking too many questions at least, which surprised Emily a little but was exactly what she needed. Kelley's arm had felt warm and solid as it slipped around her waist at the luggage carousel. Emily had tried not to lean on her too much in the airport, but when Kelley's arm slipped back around her again as they entered the hotel Emily decided to stop worrying about it. She leaned a little into the support, feeling steadier than she had since she hit the turf in Portland. Something about just knowing someone was in her corner was calming. Her back muscles were more relaxed then they had been since the morning - Emily stood relaxed by the hotel lobby sofa, enjoying watching her team mates and feeling an easy smile on her face now that the muzzy blur of pain had edged away a bit.

And then it all went sideways again. Literally. Hands on her shoulders and a squeal from Allie the only warnings before her right side exploded in pain and the world seemed to tilt off its axis. Emily staggered towards the couch, unable to string the words together to tell Allie let the fuck go. Her only thought to get off her screaming right side however she could. Her vision was sparking and narrowing at the edges by the time she's made it the two steps to the couch and collapsed there. She felt Kelley catch her shoulders as she landed hard onto her right hip and was swamped by another wave of pain. She concentrated on breathing, avoiding taking inventory of her body and noticing the actual amount of pain she was in. She focused instead on the clean salt smell of Kelley's neck, and the light detergent scent of her hoodie.

Emily wasn't quite sure how she made it out of the lobby. But some heroic banter on Kelley's part, and the prospect of a bed and a place to be in pain without having to dissemble, got her into the elevator. Emily sought out Kelley's neck again, almost by instinct this time, as they rode up to their room. ( _Th_ _eir room. THEIR ROOM._ _Thank goodness and oh damnit and yes please and, Sonnett, if you weren't all weird-ass injured you would be so beyond fucked_.) Emily's forehead bumped the bag slung over Kelley's shoulder and she had a moment of guilt that Kelley was carrying both their stuff, but then Kelley's free hand came up to smooth her hair and Emily forgot to worry. 

 

"Let's do a platonic damage assessment then, shall we?"  Kelley's hands were gentle and sure, helping Emily turn, easing her hoodie over her head, and tucking up her tank top.

Kelley was silent for a minute. Then, "shiiiit, Critter". Emily felt oddly relieved - that at least she had something to show for the stupid-ass pain that kept hitting her.

"I'm pretty surprised Thorns medical cleared you to come to Denver." Emily doesn't respond - more out of surprise more than anything else. She'd always complied with team medical help when she's been injured badly enough on the field to be taken out of play. But the rest of the time she just looked after herself. It hadn't occurred to find the Thorns medic when she could walk herself out, just like it hadn't occurred to her that Thorns medical and National Team medical synced up on stuff. _O_ _f course they're in touch, though._  She thought. _Of course those release waivers I signed 3 camps ago actually did something._

 

 

Kelley smoothed arnica gel onto Emily's back - warming it in her hands first after Emily's initial squeak. Kelley's hands were soft and slow, sparking pinpricks of awareness along Emily's skin, alternating with smears of discomfort as she slid over the pulpy skin around the cleat marks. But her touch was soothing, and it didn't making the deep aches any worse. Together they eased Emily down onto the heating pad and propped some pillows around her. Kelley drifted away, bobbing around the room as she unpacked her duffle and settling in. Emily propped her phone on an extra pillow and started an episode of  _Arrested Development,_ but didn't last all 20 minutes before she was deep asleep.


	7. Practice Being Functional

Twice in the night Emily roused to Kelley's phone alarm, and muttered her way through the water and ibuprofen Kelley handed her. Twice, she felt Kelley tuck her back into her pillow nest. The second time - as Kelley reached across her in the gray dawn light to adjust the heating pad - she reached up to pet Kelley's cheek.

"You're so nice to me, Kelley. Such a good mama duck." she said, softly, stroking her fingers against Kelley's cheekbone.

"Mm, I'm pretty sure ducks can't touch me when it comes to anti-inflammatories" Kelley murmured back.

"You know what I mean." Emily replied, poking vaguely at Kelley's chin now, too sleepy for much banter.

Kelley took her hand, lacing their fingers before squeezing them a little.

"Any time, duckling. We're gonna keep you floating." Kelley said, as Emily drifted back into sleep.

 

Emily woke to early slanting sunshine, and Kelley's deep sleeping breaths. She took a minute to gaze at Kelley, sacked out in the other bed with her mouth gently open and the sun glinting red highlights into her hair. In sleep she looked a little older, a little more somber, than when she was awake and bouncing with energy. Emily dwelled on the adorable worry wrinkle between her eyebrows and how even her earlobes had freckles before catching herself and looking away.

She eased out of bed and stretched cautiously. Definitely sore but so, so much better. And hungrier than she'd been since before the Portland game. She pulled on sweats and cautiously eased a flannel over her tender back, and slipped out in search of coffee.

Kelley was stirring when Emily  - carefully juggling two coffee cups and a smoothie - returned. 

"Morning, Sunshine" Emily smiled, setting the smoothie and one of the coffees down by Kelley's bed.

"For me? Thanks duckie!" Kelley replied. She scooted up in her bed, patting the bed for Emily to sit. "How's your back feeling?"

"So much better." Emily said, easing down to sit directly on Kelley's feet, and leaning on Kelley's knees. "I mean, not stellar, but I can definitely tough through it in practice. Thank you for looking out for me last night - I'm trying to show my gratitude via smoothie, but seriously, dude, it means a ton."

Kelley smiled at her, wiggling her toes so that they prodded up into Emily's thighs. "It's the least I could do."

They smiled at each other for a minute, Kelley's eyes sparkly over the rim of her coffee cup, before Kelley broke the silence.

"So, today's probably gonna suck balls. Last time I came to national camp injured they benched me for three days, and then put me on two-a-days by myself with a trainer, and then randomly decided I was a starter for the friendly. I'm still not sure why it all happened that way - I think there was, like, some weird game of telephone happening between the coaching staff and the trainers and the medical guy. Anyways, it was sort of hilarious and horrific. I got an assist though!"

"That's . . . great?" Emily responded. She sipped her coffee and thought for moment, then said hesitantly "I don't think I'm gonna bring it up unless someone here asks. I mean, we all play with cleat bruises all the time. And I want my fourth cap so fucking bad."

"Sooo, that's a really stupid idea" Kelley replied, "and I'd probably do exactly the same thing. I mean, if Thorns medical cleared you then there can't be anything too wild going on back there." Kelly nudged her toes up into Emily again, breaking her out of a pensive pause to give a grin and a little squeak. "The worst that's gonna happen is that you practice in pain for a few days."

"We're gonna gloss right over the part where you think I'm not doing wild things with my ass." said Emily, with a smirk.

"I was pointing at your  _back_ , silly. Do they seriously not teach you toe sign-language at east coast schools?" Kelley asked.

"Nah, we only got ASL and advanced eye-rolling. Pretty sure you have to go to a bougie private school for the weird foot stuff." Emily replied.

"Oh, let me on the pitch and I will show you _such_ weird foot stuff." Kelley replied, heaving her feet until Emily slid away, giggling, to shower and start the day.

 

Kelley was right - the day sucked balls. After a team meeting at the hotel they headed directly to the practice field to shake the cobwebs out with a scrimmage. The coaches had them working at 65% effort since most of them still needed to acclimatize to the altitude in Denver, so the play was low-contact and focused on connection and passing. Still, Emily's ribs were screaming with the effort of pulling the thin air into her lungs, making her cough with the effort which of course just made everything worse. After half an hour she started to slow down and miss opportunities as she focused on running without favoring her right side. The final few minutes were a grinding haze. She was marking Crystal and she was pretty sure Crystal had picked up that something was wrong long before they finished. Other players coming from sea level were struggling a little as well, though, so she slid past on that excuse. 

Carli rallied players from teams who'd had games that weekend to take an ice bath with her before lunch, rather than waiting until the end of the day. For once, Emily joined readily. She was eager for whatever relief she could find - the skin of her back felt like it was grating against her jersey, her hip felt hot and achy, and deep in her core near her waist there was a sort of booming sound made of pain that reverberated inside her with every heartbeat. She pulled on a tank top, tucking it into her spandex to avoid extra eyes on her injury, and slipped shoulders-deep into the ice bath, drawing hoots and kudos from her team mates.

Ice bath, bus, lunch, bus, the last of Kelley's ibuprofen and some random aspirin she found in the bottom of her bag, and they were back on the field for drills. With time to catch little breathers Emily felt marginally better. Still, she caught Chrystal's curious glances and Kelley's worried gaze from across the field. When they broke for hydration Kelley found her immediately.

"You are scary-pale right now, dude." Kelley said, handing over her gatorade.

Emily coughed a little and took a drink before replying "yeah, I'm feeling kind of done."

"Wanna talk to Dawn?" Kelley asked.

Emily made a noncommittal sound and handed the gatorade back.

It turned out that a couple other players were battling the altitude, and asked to stretch out for the final phase of practice. Emily followed them - aware of coaching eyes on her, and grateful when her luck appeared to hold.

 

The evening was a blur. Emily was so exhausted she could hardly summon a thank you when Kelley handed her a plate of dinner with a loud mutter of "poor thing, all tuckered out". She vaguely remembered the taste of her salad and fish, vaguely remembered slipping out of the dining room early, and vividly remembered discovering new blooms of bruising spreading out from the shoe print on her back - fresh stains under the darker marks layered up on her pale skin _\- it looks like a sunset,_ she thought,  _a really gross, irritating sunset_. She was too tired to wonder much about the new colors though. She gritted her teeth through a shower - pulling her hair forward over her shoulder to wash instead of letting it slap on the raw patches over her ribs. She eased on her softest tanktop and boy shorts, swallowed three more aspirin, and collapsed face-first onto her bed. Sometime later Kelley roused her enough to pass her more ibuprofen. The taste of the coated tablets lingering in her mouth. _She must have gone shopping after dinner_ Emily thought, vaguely  _I know I ran her out of meds today._ Emily felt the heating pad being smoothed over her waist and the sheet being pulled over her prone body as she sank down again into sleep.


	8. Technically Not Surprised

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mild TW for character in an altered mental state.

Emily woke herself up coughing in the night, and again in the morning when she moved to quiet her alarm.  _Well that's a fun little addition to this whole clusterfuck._ _I wonder if I woke Kelley up and that's why she's gone already?_ she thought, as she rolled out of bed. 

Or, well, as she triedto roll out of bed.

Her side felt worse this morning, which hadn't really been on her radar of possibilities until now. Everything felt simultaneously infinitely delicate and welded together into some kind of solid wall of angryness. She sighed, and scooted gingerly across her bed until she could roll out the other side.

 _I have literally no idea how to prepare for practice when I feel like this._ Emily thought, as she mechanically worked her sports bra down inch by inch over her ribs.  _Maybe I just won't think about it at all. Yeah, that'll totally work - this day will just wash over me._ She threw on the rest of her  practice clothes and headed downstairs to find coffee.

~~~

Warm-up was fine, except that she couldn't run and she couldn't breath. Everything else was just great - the sunshine and light breeze, the white-capped mountains banked along the horizon, the showy footwork and quick-moving bodies of her teammates. She admired them almost abstractly as she trudged through the drills. Her thoughts felt almost as sluggish as her body - as if she was very drunk or under water.  _I think I've turned into a cement mixer overnight_ she decided. Her chest felt cold and heavy, and every change of direction like a grinding shift of gears. _They're going to be so sad when I have to retire - it's really for the best, though. Trucks can't tackle for shit._

Kelley swooped in like some kind of large anxious bird when they took a break. She landed, looking ruffled, next to where Emily had sunk down on the turf as soon as the whistle blew.

"Are you ok? You sounded really uncomfortable this morning, but you came down to breakfast before I could bring you back anything. Why are your lips blue - do you drink blue gatorade now? I thought you only liked red gatorade."

Emily let the words flow over her. Humans moved way faster than cement mixers. One day, Kelley would understand this. Emily was far too tired to explain it to her right now. 

She leaned her head on Kelley's shoulder for a minute, sighing in relief as Kelley wrapped a warm, sure arm gently around her.

She must have dozed, because the next moment Kelley was shaking her shoulder.

"Heyo, Chickadee, I think it might be time for you to talk to medical. I'm kinda worried - you don't seem to be getting better."

Emily roused herself enough to hum a response into Kelley's shoulder. It was cozy there - sun-warmed and lithe with muscles that shifted pleasingly as Kelley ran her hand over Emily's head in gentle pats. She wasn't sure if she was still a truck or not, but Kelley was so warm, and leaning against her opened up some space in her ribs to breath into that she must not have been using before. She tried to suppress a cough but failed - eventually giving up and letting it shake her aching body until she was wheezing, leaning hard into Kelley, too exhausted to decide on anything except staying borrowed in the comforting refuge at the juncture of Kelley's shoulder and neck.

Kelley was making little concerned-sounding noises as she settled. "Is that a yes? Please Muffin?" Kelley pulled her out of her shoulder hideaway and searched her face. "I've been doing this soccer thing for a while, and I've never seen cleat bruises make someone look this shitty before. I think it would be the smart thing."

"Yeah, ok." Emily husked out. "I kinda thought you liked how I looked though."

"Oh babe . . . " Kelley seemed to let herself get distracted for a moment, fingers still soft against Emily's hair, before focusing again. "Ok! So! I'd propose a plan of attack as follows: My favorite medic is the brown-haired guy. He'll give it to you straight, and when the Medical Director isn't around he'll shoot the shit with you. He's working on Amy's ankle right now, but you could probably catch him first thing at lunch. If it's nothing, you'll be back in time for afternoon gym session and I  _promise_ I'll stay out of your hair about it."

"Mama duck in my hair. So many tangles." Emily replied dreamily.

"Sure, Em." Kelley kept petting. She sounded unsettled, but Emily didn't have the energy to dig into it. Cement mixers didn't do feelings, after all.

~~~

It shouldn't, technically, have surprised her when she passed out. She'd had plenty of warning - it just hadn't felt very important at the time.

When the coaches called them back Kelley stood and pulled Emily up after her. Emily thought she disguised the headrush well, diving face-first back into Kelley's shoulder as the world tipped and darkened, but she must not have been as subtle as she thought because Kelley was saying "Whoa, careful there Crumpet. Do you maybe wanna go see medical now?"

Emily was still deciding how to answer when Hope's voice sliced across the field, calling Kelley and Broon. Emily caught Kelley's worried look as she stepped away - it seemed almost pleading for some reason. But all Emily could really focus on just then was the sudden chill in the air and the way her knees seemingly either refused to bend  at all or refused to hold her.  _Like a ragdoll cat_ she thought.  _The cement mixer comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over . . . fuck, what's the rest of that poem?_

It shouldn't, technically have surprised her. Because the darkening edges dogged her vision as they lined up for drills. She couldn't see the corners of things, and her brain felt somehow three beats behind her eyes. She bumbled into Christen, who kindly pointed her towards where all defense players were circling up together. The ten yard to their huddle looked like half a field's distance somehow, as Emily started walking.

It shouldn't, technically, have surprised her. Because ever since she stopped leaning against Kelley that little corner of her lungs that was nice to breath into had shut down again, and apparently it was the only part that was open for business that day because her every breath felt like a gulp of pain and nothing - one gulp fast on the heels of the next, ribs screaming with effort in the thin Denver atmosphere, seeking air but somehow finding less of it with every wheezing breath

Somehow, though, she was still surprised when she came to, coughing, a circle of blurry onlookers and concerned murmurs. Kelley and the brown-haired medic were the only ones in focus. Kelley looked distraught. The medic was wearing a face mask and holding something against her mouth with a gloved hand, which was ridiculous because she was trying to  _breath_ here, damnit. But when she batted it away the gauze in his hand came away bright with blood - she had a vague thought about bodily fluids and the surprisingly graphic woodcut about the bubonic plague in her sophomore pubic health epidemiology textbook, and thought maybe that wasn't such a bad idea after all. Before she could talk he had an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth, and even though _that_ was obnoxious as hell she felt her chest relax a little as some of the desperation in her breathing eased.  _Kelley's eyes are so pretty - even like this, she's just so pretty_ she thought, before slipping back down into the dark.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured out what's the medical thing is that's going on with our Emily, here! (I had previously been making up 100% fictional medical things, and am now making up only 90% of them. Deeply satisfying.) I made some very slight re-writes to the previous chapter to align with that change.


End file.
